Sleep problems - why MY baby?!

Since my DS was 3 months (he's almost 5 mos now) he's been struggling with sleep problems. Specifically, waking up very frequently and having lots of trouble getting back to sleep. We tried EVERYTHING and I finally hired a parent coach to come in and develop a sleep plan for us. I decided CIO doesn't work for us and we needed help figuring this out. The plan is to have him sleep exclusively in his crib for naps or night, comfort him until he's drowsy, place him in the crib and comfort him to sleep. Well, that doesn't work. The minute he hits the crib mattress he starts screaming and won't calm. The only way he'll stay down is if I put him in it completely asleep and he still wakes up constantly.

My sister and close friend both have babies this age and they are having no problems sleeping. It seems like every other baby in the world is figuring this out but mine. I'm so tired and frustrated. I would just give him whatever he wants, let him sleep with us but he STILL wakes up constantly. His doc says there's nothing wrong with him and to give him solids and get him to sleep in his own room. Anyone else having these endless problems?

Since my DS was 3 months (he's almost 5 mos now) he's been struggling with sleep problems. Specifically, waking up very frequently and having lots of trouble getting back to sleep. We tried EVERYTHING and I finally hired a parent coach to come in and develop a sleep plan for us. I decided CIO doesn't work for us and we needed help figuring this out. The plan is to have him sleep exclusively in his crib for naps or night, comfort him until he's drowsy, place him in the crib and comfort him to sleep. Well, that doesn't work. The minute he hits the crib mattress he starts screaming and won't calm. The only way he'll stay down is if I put him in it completely asleep and he still wakes up constantly.

My sister and close friend both have babies this age and they are having no problems sleeping. It seems like every other baby in the world is figuring this out but mine. I'm so tired and frustrated. I would just give him whatever he wants, let him sleep with us but he STILL wakes up constantly. His doc says there's nothing wrong with him and to give him solids and get him to sleep in his own room. Anyone else having these endless problems?

You're not alone! I basically just wrote the same post. My kid is a pain in the a** when it comes to sleep. He started not sleeping good at 6 weeks old and sometimes he'll throw me loop and sleep good but mostly sleeps horrible and started waking every hour since Sunday !! I'm exhausted. Hope they start giving us more sleep

You're not alone! I basically just wrote the same post. My kid is a pain in the a** when it comes to sleep. He started not sleeping good at 6 weeks old and sometimes he'll throw me loop and sleep good but mostly sleeps horrible and started waking every hour since Sunday !! I'm exhausted. Hope they start giving us more sleep

My ds will _not_ put himself to sleep. Pedi said we have to stop putting him down asleep and I just laughed. We usually get him down for a two hour stretch at night in his bassinette and then it's up every couple hours and only falling back asleep in our bed. Naps are a joke-- he will sleep 2-3 hrs if he's on my lap and I'm trapped in the chair. On rare occasions I get him to nap in his own bed or mine, alone, he only sleeps for about 20 minutes. I know it is really hard. Like a constant battle :-(

My ds will _not_ put himself to sleep. Pedi said we have to stop putting him down asleep and I just laughed. We usually get him down for a two hour stretch at night in his bassinette and then it's up every couple hours and only falling back asleep in our bed. Naps are a joke-- he will sleep 2-3 hrs if he's on my lap and I'm trapped in the chair. On rare occasions I get him to nap in his own bed or mine, alone, he only sleeps for about 20 minutes. I know it is really hard. Like a constant battle :-(

im in the same boat! pedi said yesterday "theres no reason shes not giving u 6 to 8 hours of sleep at night. when she wakes to eat its out of habit NOT because shes hungry " so her instructions were to feed her the first time she wakes but the second time just give her the paci, well i last night i gave her the paci over and over for over an hour till finally she just got pissed and woke everyone up screaming. i made her four ozs and she immediately sucked it down. smdh

im in the same boat! pedi said yesterday "theres no reason shes not giving u 6 to 8 hours of sleep at night. when she wakes to eat its out of habit NOT because shes hungry " so her instructions were to feed her the first time she wakes but the second time just give her the paci, well i last night i gave her the paci over and over for over an hour till finally she just got pissed and woke everyone up screaming. i made her four ozs and she immediately sucked it down. smdh

My DD is EXACTLY the same. :( I feel the same in that I would give her whatever it takes just to get her to sleep, but she's not comforted by snuggling or all night boob access, I have to nurse her to sleep every 30 minutes or get out of bed and rock her in the rocking chair for 20 minutes then she'll sleep for 30 minutes and start all over again. If I am slow to get her she screams her head off and it will just escalate, no self soothing here. A lot of times when she wakes up she keeps her eyes closed and looks like she's sleepy/wants to keep sleeping. What the heck is wrong? Eventually this has to get better, right?

My DD is EXACTLY the same. :( I feel the same in that I would give her whatever it takes just to get her to sleep, but she's not comforted by snuggling or all night boob access, I have to nurse her to sleep every 30 minutes or get out of bed and rock her in the rocking chair for 20 minutes then she'll sleep for 30 minutes and start all over again. If I am slow to get her she screams her head off and it will just escalate, no self soothing here. A lot of times when she wakes up she keeps her eyes closed and looks like she's sleepy/wants to keep sleeping. What the heck is wrong? Eventually this has to get better, right?

It's such a relief to hear that other mothers are going through the same thing. But seriously, what are we supposed to do about this? I keep hearing over and over that the problem is that he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up and we have to teach him. But all my efforts have failed. Does that mean he won't ever sleep well???? Last night he was up from 12am-4:30pm.

It's such a relief to hear that other mothers are going through the same thing. But seriously, what are we supposed to do about this? I keep hearing over and over that the problem is that he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up and we have to teach him. But all my efforts have failed. Does that mean he won't ever sleep well???? Last night he was up from 12am-4:30pm.

Have you had LO's ears checked? And by more than just a quick look? W found out our little guy has a significant amount of fluid in his ears and that could causing pain and be contributing to his only sleeping in an elevated position, like the Rock & Play. His was discovered on an MRI and now we're waiting to see an ENT doctor. I'm not suggesting everyone runs out and asks for an MRI but there are better ways they can look in the ears than the typical ear check. Just an idea!

Have you had LO's ears checked? And by more than just a quick look? W found out our little guy has a significant amount of fluid in his ears and that could causing pain and be contributing to his only sleeping in an elevated position, like the Rock & Play. His was discovered on an MRI and now we're waiting to see an ENT doctor. I'm not suggesting everyone runs out and asks for an MRI but there are better ways they can look in the ears than the typical ear check. Just an idea!

I feel like it's got to come down to baby personality. Those babies "out there" that sleep well were just made to sleep well. Our babies were not apparently. And it has to get better someday. All teenagers love to sleep, right? So somewhere down the line (hopefully not 13 years) they'll sleep more. I've got to keep believing that. Also, I just don't think I'm the worst parent ever. I bet there are mothers doing a "worse" job than me at training sleep habits and they've got babies who sleep better, so again it's luck of the draw on baby sleep personalities. Okay, done rambling.

I feel like it's got to come down to baby personality. Those babies "out there" that sleep well were just made to sleep well. Our babies were not apparently. And it has to get better someday. All teenagers love to sleep, right? So somewhere down the line (hopefully not 13 years) they'll sleep more. I've got to keep believing that. Also, I just don't think I'm the worst parent ever. I bet there are mothers doing a "worse" job than me at training sleep habits and they've got babies who sleep better, so again it's luck of the draw on baby sleep personalities. Okay, done rambling.

My lo is a bad sleeper too. My favorite thing is that everyone has an answer for me "once you give that baby solid food she will sttn" nope tried it didn't work. "dont rock her to sleep you will make bad habits" we didn't rock her to sleep for months and now all of a sudden she is cuddly and that is the only way she will fall asleep. I have just started lying and telling people she sleeps great so they will quit with the unsolicited advice :-)

My lo is a bad sleeper too. My favorite thing is that everyone has an answer for me "once you give that baby solid food she will sttn" nope tried it didn't work. "dont rock her to sleep you will make bad habits" we didn't rock her to sleep for months and now all of a sudden she is cuddly and that is the only way she will fall asleep. I have just started lying and telling people she sleeps great so they will quit with the unsolicited advice :-)

My second son was like this his pedi said that he was healthy so to just let him cry it out. And he will learn to sleep. At first it was tough cause it broke my heart so didn't go through with it. Then one night I had enough and he cried two hours straight. Then he went to sleep it was like that for a few nights but he learned to sttn. And has been a wonderful sleeper ever since.

My second son was like this his pedi said that he was healthy so to just let him cry it out. And he will learn to sleep. At first it was tough cause it broke my heart so didn't go through with it. Then one night I had enough and he cried two hours straight. Then he went to sleep it was like that for a few nights but he learned to sttn. And has been a wonderful sleeper ever since.

My son only naps for about 15 mins a day after a feed. He's never slept more during the day since about 6 weeks. Night times vary. Sometimes he'll go 8 hours, other times it's 2 hourly feeds. I just go with it. It won't last forever and he's only a baby for a short time. I'm 32 years old and I wake overnight so why should I expect my DS not to.

My son only naps for about 15 mins a day after a feed. He's never slept more during the day since about 6 weeks. Night times vary. Sometimes he'll go 8 hours, other times it's 2 hourly feeds. I just go with it. It won't last forever and he's only a baby for a short time. I'm 32 years old and I wake overnight so why should I expect my DS not to.

I wanted to give an update since I know a lot of people are struggling with this. My son seemed to be a really extreme case and we figured it out. I actually had a parent coach come to the house (my mother runs a NPO that trains parent coaches) and she developed a plan for me. The plan didn't work, but I used it as a foundation and tweaked it. Because I didn't want to do CIO, she said to put him down drowsy and then comfort him to sleep. That didn't work, he just screamed for hours with me shushing and patting his back.

What worked is this: I bath him and bring him up to the nursery, run the AC or fan, turn the lights down and we read a book (if he's not too tired and cranky). Then we nurse in the chair, sit and rock until he gets drowsy. Then I stand up and walk him to sleep. At first it took like an hour, now a week later it takes about 30 seconds. Once he falls asleep I set him in the crib (on this belly, that's what he prefers), which wakes him up, and leave the room. The first time I did this I said I would only let him cry for 15 minutes before going in and picking him up (I watch him on the monitor). I thought this would result in a never-ending cycle of crying and picking up, but he managed to put himself to sleep after three 15-minute cycles. Now, 6 days later, he puts himself to sleep immediately, no crying. He also used to wake up 4-6 times a night, but since we started this new routine he only wakes up once around 2am. The change was dramatic.

I know all babies are different and this won't work for everyone, but the key for us was 1. he has to put himself to sleep and we can't be in the room, 2. he has to cry a little bit at first to figure it out and 3. he needs to be in his own space that's only for sleeping.

Sorry this was so long, but my baby was a crazy bad sleeper and I felt like I tried everything but this was the thing that finally worked. Good luck to those still struggling, there's hope!

I wanted to give an update since I know a lot of people are struggling with this. My son seemed to be a really extreme case and we figured it out. I actually had a parent coach come to the house (my mother runs a NPO that trains parent coaches) and she developed a plan for me. The plan didn't work, but I used it as a foundation and tweaked it. Because I didn't want to do CIO, she said to put him down drowsy and then comfort him to sleep. That didn't work, he just screamed for hours with me shushing and patting his back.

What worked is this: I bath him and bring him up to the nursery, run the AC or fan, turn the lights down and we read a book (if he's not too tired and cranky). Then we nurse in the chair, sit and rock until he gets drowsy. Then I stand up and walk him to sleep. At first it took like an hour, now a week later it takes about 30 seconds. Once he falls asleep I set him in the crib (on this belly, that's what he prefers), which wakes him up, and leave the room. The first time I did this I said I would only let him cry for 15 minutes before going in and picking him up (I watch him on the monitor). I thought this would result in a never-ending cycle of crying and picking up, but he managed to put himself to sleep after three 15-minute cycles. Now, 6 days later, he puts himself to sleep immediately, no crying. He also used to wake up 4-6 times a night, but since we started this new routine he only wakes up once around 2am. The change was dramatic.

I know all babies are different and this won't work for everyone, but the key for us was 1. he has to put himself to sleep and we can't be in the room, 2. he has to cry a little bit at first to figure it out and 3. he needs to be in his own space that's only for sleeping.

Sorry this was so long, but my baby was a crazy bad sleeper and I felt like I tried everything but this was the thing that finally worked. Good luck to those still struggling, there's hope!

And I thought I was the only one . My LO needs to b rocked to sleep. If I put her down drowsy, she wakes up n cries, so I have to rock her all over again. That too only in her rock n play. If I put her in crib( which is next to my bed), she wakes up in 10 min.

And I thought I was the only one . My LO needs to b rocked to sleep. If I put her down drowsy, she wakes up n cries, so I have to rock her all over again. That too only in her rock n play. If I put her in crib( which is next to my bed), she wakes up in 10 min.

Any chance your babies have something medical going on? It sounds awfully similar to what my son was doing before he was treated for acid reflux - woke up all the time when put down but slept slightly better when held. Needed to be rocked and rocked and burped an rocked to sleep. Couldn't fall asleep on his own. I know acid reflux is over diagnosed but the doc scoped his throat and there it was. Once he was properly treated for it he began sleeping MUCH better. We still burp him and keep him upright 20-30 min after feeding so he's not usually putting himself to sleep but if he wakes up (like eyes totally open) when we put him down he will put himself to sleep. He also will put himself to sleep for naps after playing contently in his crib. After going through this, I cringe when think about CIO with him cause he was hurting and not trying to get anything but relief :(

Any chance your babies have something medical going on? It sounds awfully similar to what my son was doing before he was treated for acid reflux - woke up all the time when put down but slept slightly better when held. Needed to be rocked and rocked and burped an rocked to sleep. Couldn't fall asleep on his own. I know acid reflux is over diagnosed but the doc scoped his throat and there it was. Once he was properly treated for it he began sleeping MUCH better. We still burp him and keep him upright 20-30 min after feeding so he's not usually putting himself to sleep but if he wakes up (like eyes totally open) when we put him down he will put himself to sleep. He also will put himself to sleep for naps after playing contently in his crib. After going through this, I cringe when think about CIO with him cause he was hurting and not trying to get anything but relief :(

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